


calling all the "outs" in free

by FoxVII, Galo



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Cisco and Julian are friends and this makes Barry jealous, Everyone sings "kumbaya" around the campfire, Flash intro-esque blurbs each and every chapter!, Iris tells Team Flash to get off their computers and go outside, M/M, Oxenfree AU, Slow Burn, There may or may not be supernatural elements in later chapters, Told in third person but from Barry's limited perspective, Various mentions of quantum theory, Wally providing comic relief until he sobers up, colleagues to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:58:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8954581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxVII/pseuds/FoxVII, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galo/pseuds/Galo
Summary: Being the Flash is kind of a stressful job. Iris West knows this. That's why she invites him to go snooping around on a recently opened-to-the-public island to solve a (murder?!) mystery. Or at least, that's what Barry assumes this is all about. Maybe Iris really is just trying to get his mind off of everything. Which is fine and all but Wally had to go and invite Cisco who is NOT on good terms with Barry.Oh, and Julian's there, too.Heavily inspired by Night School Studio's indie title: Oxenfree.





	1. 7PM

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the chapters spanning the length of an hour, they may seem a bit short at first. This story will go all the way to 8am the following morning, though!

_My name is Barry Allen and as you already know, I’m the fastest man alive, which, believe it or not, isn’t as great as it sounds. You know what they say about ‘with great power comes great responsibility’? Yeah, having the ability to mess with the space-time continuum isn’t exactly a walk (or a sprint in my case) through the park. It’s why my best friend Cisco isn’t talking to me anymore but also why I’ve got a bad case of The Co-Worker From Hell._

_At least I’ve still got Iris; it was all her idea, going to this island. Her argument that we’re all still human, especially those of us with meta-human powers, was pretty darn convincing. I just hope HR doesn’t go through all the s’mores before the rest of us have some._

Crisp salt air blusters past Barry, licking at his cheeks and making his hair stand up on end. He breathes it in and the sky looks bluer for it. It really is refreshing.

The waves come rocking in reliable, almost predictable, two-minute intervals that aren’t unlike a nostalgic rocking chair. Entranced, Barry rests his arms against the railing and stares out into the ocean. Other than his frosted breaths and the occasional distant car horn, all he hears is the water. He’s never had the time nor reason to give meditation a go but he’s beginning to reconsider.

The cry of gulls cuts through the tranquil to-and-fro of the night ferry. Barry glances up and spies a flock taking roost on the shrinking pier. He smiles as the lights dim and the stars take their place, no longer overshadowed by human influence. Human interference.

“So, Julian, how’s work been lately?” Iris’ voice carries from the lower deck in a way that must be deliberate.

Barry flips around and leans against the rail, arms crossed in jittery anticipation. He already knows the answer (it’s how he convinced Julian to take a breather) but he worries anyway. He’s always been a worrier, just ask Joe.

“Barry!”

Barry lifts an amiable hand in greeting and a mismatched clap follows, courtesy of one vaguely tipsy Wally West.

“Barry,” Wally repeats, grounding himself in the conversation he keeps trying to start. With every start and stop, he chops at the air for emphasis. “So, so listen. So I thought, I’d invite, some more people.”

“More people?” Barry asks.

His eyes flick to the side, tracing the sound of Julian’s voice, listening for his response to Iris.

Smiles are few and far between when it comes to Julian, but Iris knows what she’s doing and you never underestimate her. “The lovely thing about working with Allen is that neither of us have to set aside our differences.” Barry hasn’t a damn clue what that’s supposed to mean.

Barry can practically hear Iris’ expression freeze in place. “ _Oh._ So, it’s going...well, then? That’s good!” She casts around for a good follow-up. “He doesn’t...leave his things all over your side of the lab though, does he?”

Annoyance invites itself upon Barry’s face and ties his brows together. He’s the fastest man alive, not the neatest. Iris can’t hold that against him.

Before Barry can catch Julian’s riveting answer, Wally talks over it, “Yeah, HR’s already there and I invited Cisc--”

“You invited _Cisco?_ ” Well, that’s one way to get his attention.

Again with the weird air-chopping movements. “Yeah, man, seeing as how you guys are pretty, uh. Well, y’know.” Wally finishes off his exaggerated song and dance with an anti-climatic shrug.

_Yeah. I know. Everyone knows. You can’t walk into a room with the two of us without picking up on it._

A sigh builds up in the back of Barry’s throat. “Listen, Wally, I appreciate you trying to help, but…”

Eager hands fly up to halt Barry’s train of thought. “Nah, it’s cool. I invited Caitlin as well.” Wally beams at his own inebriated lack of forethought.

“Great.”

_Me and Cisco, and now Julian and the meta that tried to freeze him... not that Cait could control herself at the time._

“You play guitar?” Iris’ head peeks out from under the deck as she hops up the steps. Were it not for the unfamiliar company, Barry imagines she’d be taking two at a time. For Julian’s sake, however, she’s on her bestest most mature behavior. “I should’ve brought my dad’s old one.”

The old one that collected dust in between baseball games and fishing trips. Barry remembers catching sight of it once or twice in the closet where all sorts of memorabilia sits and waits. With a little more effort, he can see it in Julian’s hands.

Rough and calloused suit him more than supple and lithe, not that Barry’s taken the time to scrutinize Julian’s hands to that extent. It’s just a feeling.

“Through uni, yes.” Julian has made it a habit to maintain a respectable distance from everyone, including his conversational partner. “It looks like our duet will have to wait until next time.” He glances over at Wally, regards him with an inquisitive look, and nods in polite greeting.

Barry doesn’t know how to feel about Julian expecting there to be a next time.

He doesn’t have much time to mull over it either because Wally is as excitable as a baby playing peekaboo. “Barry and I were wondering when you two would get up here. You’re missing out on the view!”

Iris communicates all of her affectionate disbelief with pinched lips. “Wally, what view? The sun’s already set.”

“No, he’s right.” Julian strolls up to the railing beside Barry who scooches aside. “There was a recent report detailing the appearance of dinoflagellates in these waters.”

Barry can’t help but smile at that neat little tidbit. It might be worthwhile to invite Julian to trivia night. At least, once they’re friends. “Bioluminescent algae? Nice.”

Wally bows to Iris like a wizened sage lecturing his pupil. “The dinosaurs are back. How cool is that?”

“Wow, okay,” Barry laughs. “I think that’s enough for you, young man.”

"Agreed," Iris states, giving her brother a critical (but bemused) look. "So Julian, know anything about the island we're visiting?" she asks.  
  
Barry catches a glance from Julian before the man answers. “I hadn’t heard of it until today.”

“Supposedly it’s haunted," Iris says. Her sales pitch shimmers in her eyes.  
  
“Seriously?” Wally exclaims.  
  
Barry shakes his head. "Nah, don't let Iris fool you. One abandoned factory doesn't make for a good ghost story."  
  
Iris smirks, looking very much like a cat with cream. "I did a story on it for CCPN, actually, and it's an abandoned laboratory, not a factory, Barry."  
  
He throws his hands up. "Well, sor- _ry_ ."  
  
"Shh!” Wally hushes him. “Keep going, what else?”  
  
Iris rests her hands at her hips, flourishing beneath the limelight. She’s always had a magnetism about her, one that few could ignore. "Well. From what I could tell, they were running particle-based experiments, a bit like S.T.A.R Labs was. And one day, boom!"  
  
"It exploded!" Wally guesses.  
  
"No! Everyone vanished."  
  
"Then why'd you go 'boom'?" Wally’s disappointment over the lack of an explosion is palpable.  
  
"What kind of particle?" Barry asks. Because someone has to keep them on track.  
  
"Chroniton particles, I think they were calling them."  
  
" _Chroniton?_ You sure you weren't watching Star Trek while doing your research?" Barry asks, dryly.  
  
Iris rests a hand upon her hip and shifts according to the boat’s sway. "No, Barry, but I remember that's what you would do while writing those college papers.”

Julian reminds the trio of his existence with a charming, “I’m partial to _Deep Space Nine_ myself.”

“Because you share a name with a guy?”

“Because I like Julian Bashir, yes.”

“That’s not a valid reason!” Which is difficult to defend when Barry’s laughing at his very case. Once the humor subsides and he mellows out (like the waves underfoot), his voice softens. “See? Bunch of nerds. Told you that you’d fit right in.”

Something akin to warmth curves against Julian’s lips. “So what’s this place called? Surely it has a name. We can’t just refer to it as ‘the haunted island’, that’s tacky.”

Iris bites back a laugh but Barry can tell that she’s enjoying herself. “Copenhagen Island.”

Julian quirks a brow. “What, like the Copenhagen interpretation?”

Wally snaps his fingers. “Wait, wait, I remember learning about that.”

Everyone turns to stare at him.

Wally scoffs. “Uhh, hello? Engineering major? Quantum computers are kind of a thing.” He pauses. “Okay, but really, we only touched on that stuff for like a week or two. Wasn’t the entire class.”

“Ohh, I get it.” Iris tucks a hand beneath her chin, chasing after her thoughts. “Maybe they were trying to build a time machine.”

Barry grimaces. “That seems a little too on the nose for me.”

“Besides that,” Julian cuts in, “The Copenhagen interpretation has less to do with traveling through time and more to do with probability. Put in layman's terms, the idea is that until you observe something, every possibility exists: Take Schrödinger’s cat experiment. It is both alive and dead until you actually check on it and confirm one possible outcome.”

Iris nods in time with Julian’s explanation, trying to make sense of all the mumbo-jumbo science talk. “Hmm… Maybe the people on the island were just trying to sound smart, then.”

“We scientist types are like that,” Julian agrees.

Barry means to argue but the intercom overhead rattles off a pre-recorded safety message before launching into the history of Copenhagen Island: Once a former testing facility for government experiments, the island was abandoned in the late 1930s. With little human interference, flora and fauna propagated and thrived. In recent times, the small landmass was rediscovered and transformed into a cute little town with only a dozen or so permanent residents. All of the boutiques and stores employ part-timers, most of whom are from Central City.

“It’s weird how I’ve never heard of this place before,” Barry notes.

“Remember what I said about it being haunted?” Iris clears her throat. “Apparently there was a string of disappearances around the turn of the century. They’ve only just started allowing people to come here.”

“And this was your idea of a relaxing getaway?”

“Barry.” A warning flashes across Iris’ eyes.

“Methinks someone’s got an ulterior motive in dragging all her friends out here. Something to do with a hot new scoop, maybe?” Barry shakes his head. “C’mon, Iris, your dad’s the detective, not us.”

Waning patience spreads across Iris’ face like a shadow. Her voice remains gentle but Barry can tell that it’s for his sake. “I just wanted us to get away from things for a bit. Besides, it’s probably just some urban myth they started to keep people away.”

Barry wants to bring up the fact that posted guards are a far more effective deterrent than schoolyard rumors but the ship horn sounds, announcing their arrival.

The ferry drifts into Copenhagen Island’s small harbor as waves crash against the rocks. The gangplank lowers with a dull thud, linking the ship to the docks. Another announcement rings out, instructing the passengers that it’s safe for ‘disembarkation’ with all the delight of an amusement park ride. Barry tries to check to see if it’s an actual word but Central City’s cell towers don’t reach this far out. Getting a signal is hopeless.

Barry looks up from his phone in time to see Iris make a small twirl, arms out as she takes it all in. He grins, sliding the thin device into the back pocket of his jeans.

Pine trees blanket the island and wreathe it in everlasting green. The night air is pure and laced with the smell of salt.

Rustic is the word Barry would use for the path that winds from the pier to the town. What was once solid pavement is littered in cracks, leaving space for weeds to crawl out of stone mosaic.

A line of cottages stand on either side of the road. Hand-drawn scenes of the winter season decorate the storefronts with each windowpane leading into the next like one large panoramic. Holiday wreaths hang upon the old iron-wrought lampposts.

Wally points out the fact that there’s a surf shop with massive sales and not just because Christmas is on the horizon. “Feels like we just walked into another world out here. Like, they clearly understand that it’s below 40 with all the tinsel, but these guys are still open.” Wally shakes his head, oblivious to the fact that his sober compatriots are having just as much trouble wrapping their minds around this place.

That being said, it’s pleasant. It’s sweet, it’s quaint, it’s...

Cisco.

Barry fights the urge to shrink away and hide behind someone else. It’s hard to blend into a crowd when you’re pushing past six feet (never mind that there isn’t much of a crowd here to begin with). All the same, his shoulders slump as his eyes flick to the side. He ruffles the back of his hair, as though the act might somehow make himself invisible.

He’s done his part. He’s reached out. He’s asked. Cisco just needs his time and that’s perfectly fair.

Just… _Be cool._

Barry shoves both hands into his pockets, ambling along behind Wally. Someone needs to keep him from diving into the lake after the dinosaurs, after all.

“Julian, up top!” Cisco lines up a high-five for Julian and grins when their hands smack together, crisp and clean. “I haven’t seen you in forever, man. When were you planning on getting back to me?”

It’s the first time Barry has ever seen Julian express anything remotely resembling sheepishness.

“I meant to do so this coming Monday but seeing as how we’re both here…”

“Saves you a trip, right?”

Barry watches the two and something within him twists. He squares his shoulders and looks away. A slim hand crosses his field of vision, wrapping around Wally’s arm to tug him away from the water’s edge. Caitlin. She turns to give Barry a small, kind smile.

“It’ll be okay,” she murmurs, prodding Wally until he’s walking between Barry and Caitlin, flanked and now unable to embark on any impromptu fishing adventures.

“Yeah,” some of Barry’s enthusiasm fades as Cisco’s eyes land on him. “We’re all here.”

Cisco prefaces a minor correction with the raise of his finger. “Actually, we’ve got someone on pit fire duty. Hartley’s keeping an eye on our things. I’d say so is HR but he’s HR.”

Hartley Rathaway, the guy who, from Barry’s perspective, had the audacity to give himself some kind of supervillain name. Learning that S.T.A.R. Labs is on good terms with him post-Flashpoint is almost as trippy as going to work one day and stumbling upon a ‘CSI meta-human specialist’ whatever _that_ means.

Never again, Barry tells himself, never again will he mess with time.


	2. 8PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the others enjoy the beach at night, Iris convinces Barry and Julian to go explore some caves with her. They find way more than they're bargaining for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now things are getting fun.

_I like to think that I was a responsible student during my college days. Aside from the occasional kickback here and there, I wasn’t much of a partier. Neither is Caitlin and yet she’s the one in charge of all the food and drink. I guess it could be worse. Hartley could have been placed in a position of power and we all know how that turned out one or two timelines ago._

_It’s nice, though, all of us gathered around a campfire like this. I think I’ll let Iris’ inquisitive nature slide this time._

Laughter rings through the air. While Caitlin doesn’t sit right up against the fire, it puts her in the perfect position to play bouncer for the bags of marshmallows next to her. _Someone_ needs to keep HR from eating all of them.

“No, HR, we’ve been over this before. These are for sharing. I know it’s different on Earth-19 but we didn’t purchase enough for everyone to have their own bag.” Discreetly, she pops another marshmallow in her mouth and hides her chewing behind the dainty lift of her hand.

HR gives a little helpless shrug and apologizes, “In that case, I’ll have to come along for the next filling of the cornucopia.”

Cisco is quick to point out, “You mean ‘grocery shopping’.”

“Ah, grocery shopping. That’s what it was. You know, it sounds less glamorous on Earth-1.”

Barry watches them with a stupid grin on his face.

The back and forth between HR and Cisco should, by all accounts and purposes, be the reigning conversation but the West siblings are just as animated: Wally has sobered up a little but doesn’t make him any less boisterous. His laughter echoes louder than the rest as he clutches his stomach. “Okay, okay, you’re telling me that _actually_ happened? A giant shark man? Like, an inverse merman or something?”

“That happened,” Iris confirms, with a flicked-wrist hand gesture, as though surrendering herself to the collective whim of the Fates who regularly seem to play with their lives. The ocean waves crash against the shore as though summoned by the mention of sea life, however bastardized.

“How’d you catch him? With a giant harpoon net or something?”

Hartley flops backwards into the sand and starts flapping his limbs into an angel. “Please, no mention of nets. I wanted to play volleyball but _someone_ had to go and forget the net.” He lets out a quiet “oof!” as the ball hits him square in the chest.

“This _someone_ ,” Cisco reminds, “Had to remember the chairs, the towels, the umbrella -- which we didn’t even need ‘cause _hello, people_ it’s night -- and the ham radio.”

“You’ve a ham radio?” Julian leans over to grab another marshmallow and curses as yet another graham cracker splits between his fingers. “What for?”

Iris opens a new box and offers pristine undamaged crackers to Julian. “That was my special request for the night. One of the big rumors surrounding Copenhagen is that if you tune into just the right frequency, you can hear aliens.”

Hartley sends the volleyball soaring and Cisco gives it a good smack; it careens through the air until it leaves a crater in the sand beside Wally. Wally gives Cisco a dirty look. Amidst the topic of other lifeforms, he, Cisco, and Hartley knock the ball around in some haphazard kind of hot potato.

The ball comes at Barry and Julian but Wally dives for it in the nick of time, saving it from a fiery death. The flames from the fire pit hiss and crackle, though, at the sudden shower of sand. “Whoops. My bad.”

Caitlin clears her throat. Rather than argue, Wally holds the ball out for her and sighs as it’s confiscated.

Melting marshmallow oozes out of Barry’s mouth as he crunches into his umpteenth s’more that night. “ _Aeeri-_ ** _ehhs?_** ” His arms shoot up like the quintessential move of the chicken dance as he scoots back to avoid staining his pant leg with white gooey stuff.

“Oh, Barry.” Caitlin holds a napkin out under his chin while wincing. “Now what’s this about extraterrestrial life forms?”

“I don’t know!” Iris exclaims. Her curiosity is palpable because Hartley’s sat back up and HR’s abandoned sweet sugary death mid-bite. “But it has to do with the caves. The entrance isn’t that far from here. Who’s with me?”

Barry’s hand shoots up into the air, never mind how his mouth is busy trying to sop up a stringy melting mess. “ _Mmf_.” He grabs a napkin and dabs at his chin and wrist. “Hey, Julian, weren’t you an explorer? Sounds right up your alley.”

There’s a second of hesitation that prefaces Julian’s response. “Did I tell you that?”

“Yeah, you mentioned it before.”

“Hmm. Must have been in passing.” Julian rises to his feet and claps his slacks free of sand. He reaches for his collar and snaps it straight, clears his throat, then turns to Barry. “All right, I’ll tag along.”

“It’s a shame you don’t have your hat, though,” Barry says.

Julian looks at him funny. “... Yes, it is.”

Barry wipes his hands free of the last traces of sticky marshmallow clinging to his skin. “Awesome, let’s do it. Anyone else?” He swings around to squint at the faces lit by firelight. His eyes dwell on Cisco for a moment before sweeping to the others.

“I might need another beer or two in my system before I go martian hunting,” Hartley confesses.

Cisco, too, shrugs the invitation off with a wave of his hand. “Nah, you guys go on ahead. I promised HR we’d go collect seashells.”

It’s probably not an excuse, Barry thinks, because HR hops to his feet and mentions something or another about walking along the receding shoreline in search of inspiration. Had it been a spur of the moment deflection on Cisco’s part, well, HR’s not exactly the best of liars.

“With any luck, we’ll find a pearl-bearing clam or two.” HR’s optimism is very hit-or-miss. Tonight, it simply isn’t rubbing off on Barry.

“That’d be pretty cool,” he admits. “How about you, Caitlin? You wanna go spelunking?”

Caitlin offers him an apologetic smile. “I didn’t bring the right shoes with me.” Her eyes flicker down at her heels. “They’re no good for the beach either. I sort of forgot we’d be going to an island tonight.”

Wally lets out a bashful laugh. “I kinda told her and Cisco that we were partying and she took me seriously even though the s’mores should’ve clued her in.”

Caitlin flusters and hastily replies in her defense, “I-I thought they might have been for drinks or something! Like a garnish or, you know, some sort of new trend. I, for one, would rather get a marshmallow in my martini instead of an olive.”

“So when did you realize you’d be going to the beach?” Barry asks.

Hartley raises his hand as if they were back in the classroom. It comes as little surprise when he doesn’t wait to be called on, “I may or may not have pointed it out as soon as the pier came into view. She was speechless. Had to have been there.”

“No, Hartley, there have been enough witnesses to my lack of foresight.” Caitlin huffs.

Barry lets out a low “ohhh, _snap"_ as she steals Hartley’s s’mores skewer and passes it over to HR in the name of petty vengeance. Julian chuffles.

“Oh, but getting back to your question, Barry, why don’t the three of you go on ahead? I’m sure we’ll join you later. These boys just have a lot of energy they need to get out first.”

“Sure thing, yeah. You guys take your time.” The less time Barry spent around Cisco, the less likely there would be some sort of conflict. It was only a matter of time before the judgmental looks gave way to choice words.

Barry looks to Iris. “Guess it’ll just be the three of us.”

Iris gets to her feet and dusts off the back of her dress. “You know what they say: Three’s a crowd. We’ll track down those aliens faster than Wally is behind the wheel.”

“Doubt it!” Wally calls out.

Iris rolls her eyes. The sand mutes her steps as she fetches the radio; she clicks it on out of curiosity and gets a blast of screeching static for her troubles. She twists the dials and the hissing noise worsens. With a frown, Iris turns off the radio.

In the quiet, Iris motions towards Barry and Julian, her footfalls soundless. “Okay, I’m counting on you two. If we find something I just might beat out Linda Park for CCPN’s reporter of the year.”

Barry shuffles along behind her. “Breaking stories about The Flash aren’t getting you awards?” he asks. Sand has worked its way into one sneaker and Barry gives his leg a shake to no avail.

“Not since that first year. You’ve gotta give me more to work with, Barry.” Iris tucks the ham radio under her arm, fumbling for a map. “Hmm, the cave’s just down this way.” Fold by fold, she follows the worn creases and tucks the map back into the belt of her dress.

“Who brought the super-soaker?!” can be heard echoing down the beach, courtesy of Cisco.

Behind the surprise attack is none other than Hartley. Barry expects to hear some sort of cry of triumph but it never comes: Caitlin is armed and dangerous and she’s got Cisco’s back.

“Damn, Hartley!” Wally jeers. “Should’ve seen that one coming!”

The next thing Barry knows, there’s water balloons exploding by the campfire and the parties involved are doused in darkness. Wally’s been holding out on them this entire time.

“Where did he get that bucket from?” Julian asks, sounding more perplexed in this moment than he has ever been.

“The bucket of water balloons?” Iris echoes. “Probably the same place he got dinosaurs from those dinoflagellates of yours.”

“I’m starting to wonder if I made the right choice,” Julian jokes. Or at least, Barry assumes it’s a joke. Coming from Julian, it could very well be a candid observation.

At the edge of the beach where sand meets stone, a charming little path stands out against the weeds. Wherever the pavement has yet to crack, Barry walks.

Julian watches him shuffle along the road and scoffs. He turns his attention towards Iris instead.

“Ever since you mentioned aliens, I’ve been trying to come up with a plausible explanation that doesn’t simply resort to ‘giant 12-foot shark is but one of many answers to the questions of the universe’ because that’s cheating.”

Peals of laughter spill from Iris’ mouth, never mind how she tries to hide them behind her hand.

Julian grins.

“Now, here’s the problem I’ve been running into: When you take into account the average effective range of shortwave frequencies, we shouldn't be picking up anything past the ionosphere. Unless this little guy can register anything past 100mhz, we won't be listening to any green men tonight. Most amateur radios cap off at 30mhz.”

"Well, yeah,” Barry cuts in, “But you're assuming that the extraterrestrials in question are still, well, _extra-_ terrestrial - that they haven't landed. We could hear some communication signals from something already here, or, maybe, something from a parallel world."

Julian crosses his arms and fixes Barry with a look that can’t be misconstrued for anything other than a challenge. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"So are you."

"I never claimed otherwise."

Julian has one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smiles of his. Barry’s never quite figured out how to react to those things. Sometimes he just stares. Other times, his mouth twists into a pretzel of a smile that probably looks more pained than anything. Right now, his stomach is doing funny acrobatic flips like he’s ate something bad but his palms are sweating.

“Uhh, at the risk of sounding dumb, I kinda feel like I missed something here--”

“Hey, guys, it’s over here!” Iris is waiting for them at the mouth of the cavern with an uncooperative radio in hand. The more she stares at it, the sorrier Barry feels for her.

“May I?” Julian beats Barry to the punch and plucks the radio out of Iris’ hands. With one knock from the heel of his palm, the static mellows out into a tender jazz piece from the 40s.

“Aww, thank you.” Iris takes the radio back and tosses Barry an impish look over her shoulder. “It’s so good to have you here with us, Julian. How’d Barry convince you to come?”

How, indeed.

Smooth jazz makes for a rather dissonant backdrop as Barry sticks his head inside the cave. As far as caves go, this one is pretty unremarkable: Little more than an opening in a rock face, stone and moss. He uses his longer legs to their full advantage and throws himself up over one of the many boulders blocking their way.

“We’ve a work agreement in place,” Julian says as diplomatically as an Englishman knows how to. He clambers up after Barry and accepts the hand offered to him.

“Basically, I’ll process all the reports for the next month if Julian promises to get some sunlight for a change.”

“Which was clever on Barry’s part because I’ve yet to fulfill my half of the bargain.” Julian eyes the full moon. “He tricked me.”

The two of them hoist Iris up and Barry hands her back the radio once their feet touch the ground.

“I can’t believe you got hustled by Bartholomew.”

Iris’ snickers are followed by a startled guffaw from Julian.

Barry frowns. “I didn’t hustle him. I didn’t even think about the timing. See, you shouldn’t have brought up the fact that it’s night. This could’ve counted.”

Julian shrugs. “What can I say? I’m an honest man.”

Barry sees the ‘unlike you’ glimmering in Julian’s eyes and he lets out a childish huff.

As he looks around, Barry finds himself disappointed at the lack of glowing stalactites or parietal art upon the walls. The stone feels cool and worn and just a tad damp under his fingertips. His fingers are dried carelessly on the leg of his pants.

A sudden, sharp crackle seizes his attention. From Iris’ sheepish expression, he can infer that the radio’s volume, not the frequency tuner, got cranked.

“So what are we looking for exactly?” he asks.

“Well, the music stopped and we’re back to this screeching,” Iris mumbles. “I don’t get it. It’s a huge stretch from the pier to this cave but I couldn’t even pick up a station until we got to the entrance. Now that we’re inside, it’s just more static.”

“Could I take another look?” Julian holds out a hand for the radio and nearly fumbles it when a jolt passes between him and Iris.

Another song warbles to life through the radio, _“Why does the sun go on shining? Why does the sea rush to shore? Don’t they know, it’s the end of the world~”_

“I think it likes you more than me.” Iris shakes her head when Julian tries to return the gadget to her. “Meaning you’re in charge of it now.”

Barry keeps his eyes steady throughout the exchange but his pinched lips are another story. Julian’s got more brownie points than him so far.

Part of him hates how petty he feels being jealous of Julian and Iris: He should be happy that Julian’s getting along with others but no one said anything about him getting on with the girl of his dreams.

Okay, fine, so his and Iris’ time together had gone and passed but he can’t help but feel icky feelings. He’s never been good about any and all the emotions surrounding loss, and who can blame him? One by one, the people he cares about seem to vanish.

He doesn’t want to humor the thought of Iris growing closer to Julian.

“Barry, watch your step.”

Julian grabs him by the forearm and steadies him as he trips over a rock. Smooth, Allen.

Worse yet, Julian has the decency to ask him how he’s doing. “Careful. You all right? I can’t imagine it’s much fun walking with a stubbed toe.”

Barry breathes through the pain and lets out a strained “yeah, yeah I’m good” as he leans against Julian.

The radio chirps on, heedless. “ _~’cause you doOn l-ve mE--_ ”

The melody gives way to a sharp crackle, followed by silence. Then a single, clear, beep. Two more follow in quick succession. Three, longer tones after that. Then again, three, short, quick beeps.

Barry jerks away and gives the radio a look. “Is that...morse co--”

_ > Barry. _

A voice marred with crackling static echoes against the walls.

_ > Help me. _

Iris throws her hands over her mouth as the stone surfaces begin to flash in bright blinding lights: Cold cyan, hot pink, coarse yellow, brilliant purple, lime green.

The ground beneath them starts to quake.

_ > Barr y h ELp. ME. BA R r hLP. _

_ > Boy with. Lightning. Freedom. We. Are not. Free. _

Rocks loosen from the roof of the cavern and plummet down. Over the rattling of the earth and the trilling radio waves, Julian hollers, “Run!”

_ > me sleep you long. long time. _

Barry does what he does best, only for his legs to catch on the uneven floor of the cave. He falls face-first and gathers himself up with a curse. Anything faster than a brisk walk sends a surge of pain up his leg. And here he was, hoping to scout ahead for an exit.

“Come on, Barry, come on. We gotta get you outta here.” Iris takes him by the wrist.

The three of them flee from the tremors. Further inside the cavern, Barry and present company begin to rush past the strangest of oddities: “Whoa. What is a _desk_ doing in here?”

Iris shakes her head. “That’s what you notice? Not the computer on top of it?”

Julian huffs. “It isn’t even hooked up to anything.”

_ > HAPPY TIME FLASH. _

Barry lets out an alarmed yelp. He exchanges looks with Iris and Julian, then shakes off the shock. “Whoever that is, they’re starting to piss me off.”

“Do you suspect a meta?” Julian asks.

“Or a whole gang of them,” Iris says.

_ > m e tA humANS. Weird. WEIRD. weird name. not META human. _

“That answers that question,” Iris mumbles.

_ > do you. Want? To play. _

Barry swears as he lands on his foot wrong and twists his ankle. “Hey, let’s stop talking and encouraging it. Them. Whatever.”

Iris ducks under his arm. “Good idea.” Barry knows from the look in her eyes that there’s a comment brewing regarding his falls, but she’s both too kind and too practical to voice it now. Instead, he imagines Caitlin’s voice in his ear, breaking down his accelerated healing into minutes and seconds.

_ > I am. Per. Eye. Owe. I am. Unforgivable. you, us. curse. _

Despite the more mundane method of escape, the trio make it deeper into the cavern. More out of place knick-knacks litter the ground: Articles of clothing, a broken pinata, and even a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Tom Felton.

“That,” Julian begins. “That is terrifying.”

Iris makes a face as she tiptoes around the disquieting paraphernalia. “Hey, Barr? I think there’s something you need to see.”

Barry looks over his shoulder and gapes at what Iris has uncovered. “Hold on, those, _those_ are Hartley’s.” He approaches the pair of gloves. It dawns on him then that these were fully capable of creating seismic activity. Barry grabs a hold of them and flips them around, looking frantically for some sort of off switch.

_ > CATS. love. Pied. pepper. _

“Jules, can you turn that damn thing off!” Barry waves his hand in the rado’s general direction.

Julian obliges in less than a second and the earth calms until there is little more than a distant, discontented rumble.

Then, the air around them splits open, burning bright blue. Matter warps and dissipates as the gaping rift swallows whatever it touches, not unlike a black hole. Barry has seen this before. He’s _done_ this before.

_ > run. Barry. RUN. _

The light engulfs them and the last thing Barry hears are his own screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, kudos and comments especially are much appreciated. Thank you for joining us on this wild ride!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find us on Tumblr @ khemeioa & velocitatis.


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